First Long Run of the Training Program

OK - It's not such a big deal for me to do an 8 miler on a weekend morning...I do plenty of runs like these in my base training when I don't have a race coming up. However, this is week 1 of my marathon training, so it's definitely a milestone.

Today's weather was perfect for July. Overcast, temperatures in the high 60s and a little breeze. Awesome! So the weather would not slow me down or run me down this morning.

I felt pretty good when I woke up this morning - not coughing and not as weak as Friday and Saturday mornings - but still not 100%. I went out for the run anyhow, with the following plan - keep it slow and if my HR goes over 160 walk to bring it back down.

I ended up taking walk breaks every 2 miles. Most of the time it was during uphill stretches where my HR kept elevating.

My legs started to get pretty sore around mile 5...I definitely need to get a pair of new shoes - my current ones have over 350 miles on it.

In the end it wasn't too bad - 7.63 miles, 1:26:14 - an 11:19/mile pace with average HR of 154.

Good News, Bad News

The good news - I woke up this morning and I'm no longer coughing.

The bad news - I still feel a little weak and run down.

Luckily this is a three-day weekend, so I'm going to postpone my long run until tomorrow. Hopefully I'll feel good enough tomorrow morning to get in an 8 miler.

More good news - I got my fundraising website up. I'll be posting more information about my Nana and connection to Alzheimer's throughout the next few months - and I'd love to hear yours too if you would like to leave them in the comments of the blog. And I would definitely appreciate any donation the readers of my blog can make over here.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Cough, Cough...Again?

I started getting a bit of a cough last night / this morning. I can't believe it...could it just be a relapse of what I had two weeks ago? Something new?

I'm not sure, but I'm going to try and take it easy. I have an 8 mile run scheduled for tomorrow morning, but I'll push it to Sunday if I don't feel up to it tomorrow.

I just hope this will not be an ongoing thing during marathon training....

Finally - A Low HR Run!

This morning's plan was an easy 3 miler - on my usual lake loop route. I was going to leave the iPod at home and focus on keeping my pace slow and my HR under 150 as much as I could.

The plan worked!

When I first stepped out the door, I had my doubts - my HR was registering in the low 90s (it is usually in the low 70s when I step out the door...the mid to low 60s when I'm sitting down resting). I had gone out for a few beers with a neighbor last night, after the kids were in bed - so, it was a later night than usual, I got less sleep, my sleep was not at deep due to the alcohol, and I think I even felt a bit of dehydration when I woke up (not really a hangover, per se, but a little on the dry mouth side).

I started running at a slow pace - I wasn't sure how slow, but I checked in with my HR and kept it under 150 for most of that first mile. When my Garmin chirped for mile 1, I looked down and saw my pace was 11:30. Wow, that was slow. However, my average HR was 142. I knew this is where I needed to be.

During mile number 2, I saw a turtle crawling towards the woods. Very appropriate for this morning's run. I see tons of bunny rabbits hopping along in my neighborhood, but today was about slow and steady - and Mr. Turtle was there to remind me. Mile 2 chirped and pace was 11:04 with an average HR of 149.

I know that on the way back home there are a few hills. As I started the ascent, I reminded myself to slow down. I wanted to keep this a slow and steady run - even if the pace was pedestrian. I'm sure my thoughts wandered along the way, as my Garmin shows that I hit a max HR somewhere in there of 164 - but my average HR on that last mile was 152 - and at a 10:36/mile pace. For mile 3 to be 30 seconds faster and only 3 bpm higher on the average HR - I'm not going to be too hard on myself for going over 150 bpm.

Overall, the 3.2 miles took 35:15 - an 11:02/mile pace with my average HR at 148. I can't remember the last run where my average HR was under 150...so even though the pace was slow, I will take it!

I Guess I Have Started My Marathon Training

Luckily, Week 1 of the marathon training plan that I have chosen (for the time being) is very much like my normal running base when I'm not training for anything. It will be a 19 mile week - four runs ranging from 3 to 8 miles. No problema.

I avoided the entire "pace run" thing for now and just ran my 5 miler yesterday as an easy run. A few comments: (a) I ran the 5.5 miles at a 10:36/mile pace - which very well could be my marathon pace (a 4:38 marathon?...perhaps that's a bit too optimistic to shave 20 minutes off my time) and (b) my Heart Rate started to climb again after mile 2.

I'm a bit concerned about this whole Heart Rate issue. I'm hoping that it will improve as my running becomes part of the routine again and I get more sleep. I'll give it another 3 or 4 weeks and see what happens. I will especially take it easy on this weekend's 8 mile long run - I'll try to slow down as much as possible to keep the HR down...even if it means having a really slow pace or walking. I still feel that the best way to build up aerobic fitness is to train in the 65%-75% HR range, but I'm finishing my runs in the mid to high 80%s...

How I Managed To Sign Up For The New York Marathon (and get accepted...)

I had no intention on running a marathon this year.  Really...it was not in the plan - you can read it in my blog.

However, there was one - and only one - way that I would even consider training for the full 26.2 this year.  The thought came to me last November when I saw this on the Ellis Island site:

It's the passenger record for my Nana.  She arrived at Ellis Island on November 8, 1909.  This year will mark the 100th anniversary of my Nana arriving in the United States.

Now, most running enthusiasts know what happens each year in New York during the first week of November (here's a little hint, for those of you who don't know).

So...I thought it would be a really cool idea to celebrate this milestone by running the New York City Marathon.  However, it's not easy to get a spot to run in the NYC marathon.  There's a lottery, so there was no certainty I would actually get in.

I started thinking about this a little more.  Another way to guarantee a spot in the NYC marathon is to run for a charity.  The more I thought about this, I decided that the perfect scenario would be for me to run the NYC Marathon while raising money for the Alzheimer's Association.  However, the Alzheimer's Association was not one of the charities for last year's race (I would later learn that they had never been one of the charity partners for the NYC Marathon...).

I continued to check the charities page throughout March and April to see if the Alzheimer's Association would be a participating charity this year.  Finally, the charities were posted - and the Alzheimer's Association was one of the charities.  WOW!

I sent in my application.  Again, I had to think it was a long shot.  They only take 50 runners.  The team is NY based (it's the New York City chapter of the Alzheimer's Association that is sponsoring the team) and I don't live in the NYC area.

Somehow, the stars aligned and I opened up this email on Friday evening, June 19:

So...this all means that on November 1, 2009, I will be running the New York City Marathon in memory of my Nana - exactly 100 years to the week of her arriving in New York, through the city that she called home the majority of her life, and raising money to combat the disease which took her away from us.

WOW!!!

So much for my plans to focus on Half Marathons this year...

Catching Up On Sleep

The plan was that last night after dinner, Sherry and I would watch the Netflix movie we had, drink some wine and hang out.

Instead, I fell asleep in my son's bed at a little after 8pm.  My wife came and got me at 9:30pm and I switched into our bed and slept the night away.  I slept until 6am or so - and I didn't feel like I was about to keel over (like I have been feeling for about the past week when I woke up).

I went out for a morning long run.  I had only run 6 miles so far this week, so 6 miles was the maximum distance for me.

I took it slow - and decided that I would walk if my heart rate was over 160 bpm.  I pretty much stuck to that - for the first 5 miles anyway.  I think that my body is still fighting off whatever sickness it had a few weeks ago, which is making me need more sleep (although I was getting less sleep until a few days ago because of the hours I was putting in at work) and I'm still a bit congested.  I have to remember to bring tissues on my next few runs...I ended up doing a farmer's blow about 2.75 miles into my run this morning - it would have been earlier, but I was running in a residential development and didn't want to do that on anyone's lawn...

So, next week I'll try to get four runs in.  I'll try to follow the Higdon's Novice 2 plan for now - so that would be runs of 3 miles, 5 miles (pace), 3 miles and 8 miles.

I really don't know what to do about that pace run.  I don't yet have a time goal in mind for this marathon.  I would love to run a 4:30, but that would be close to a 30 minute improvement over my first marathon - plus my best half marathon is a 2:13 - so this would be like running two of those back-to-back. I'm not sure that's going to be an achievable goal.  (Then again, I think that if I ran a half marathon during my marathon training last year, that I definitely would have been under 2:10...)

I also received my fundraising page for the Run 2 Remember team.  I'm also a bit anxious about this part of the program.  It's a pretty wonderful story why I'm doing this marathon, and I want to be able to express it the best I can.  I'll likely have the full post about it on the blog and write a summary on the fundraising page with a link to the longer post here....but that still means I need to compose it here!  When will I put that together?  Will it be good enough?

I need to take a deep breath.  Take it one thing at a time.  Just like running - one foot in front of the other...eventually I'll get to the finish line.  I always do!  :-)

The Big To Do List

Now that my big work project is complete, I have a bunch of things that I now need to focus on. Lots of house projects (the "honey-do" list is quite long), I need to clean my office up a bit, and I now get to focus on the next big thing - preparing for the New York Marathon!

Here's a few things that I know I will need to do:

• Get some sleep - I'm still not caught up on sleep. I'm waking up feeling dead-tired. When I run, my heart rate starts to elevate after two miles. I definitely have to get more rest over the next few weeks.
  
• Lose a few pounds - I haven't weighed myself in a few weeks, but with the amount I have been eating out - and eating at my desk - I'm sure the number on the scale won't look pretty. Get ready blog readers to see the daily calorie count re-appear in my blog.
• Stretching and strengthening exercises - The arch on my left foot is starting to give me pains on the day after I run. I don't want this to turn into another battle with plantar fasciitis, so I better take some action...now!
• Choose a marathon training plan - I was going to use Higdon's Novice 2 plan. However, it looks like the R2R team will also be providing a marathon training plan as well. Actually, the team has two coaches that will be monitoring our running progress on Flotrack...which means I'll need to log my runs in Flotrack in addtion to RunningAhead. Grrr...

I also should update my resume. Although, I will be moving from Nortel to Nokia Siemens with the buyout of my division, who knows how long that will last.

No rest for the weary...

Network Launched!!! (and some good iPod karma...)

This morning, my project officially launched - and Cricket Wireless is now operating in the Baltimore / Washington, DC area!

I ended up pulling an all-nighter in the race to the finish. Why does it always happen that the last piece of equipment to be brought up has the most issues?? And in this case, this site had the most visibility. However, with some good teamwork and creative troubleshooting, the site came up and voice calls were successful at around 7:15am.

As I was going into the office yesterday morning, I had my iPod in the car. I set it to shuffle and started to "spin the wheel" to get to a random first song. I ended up stopping on "Keep the Customer Satisfied" by Simon and Garfunkle - very appropriate! However, it was the next song - picked at random by the iPod - which stuck out in my head throughout the day and gave me inspiration. It's an Israeli song by Yoni Rechter and the chorus translates to "Go on straight ahead; Go on alone; Don't be afraid; Don't get angry; Always keep going". It proved to be very good karma. There were a few times where I could have showed anger with the customer or may have been afraid that we wouldn't get that last, very important site on the air. However, I took a deep breath and kept going ahead to the very end. There's another Israeli phrase - "Yihiye B'Seder" or "It will end up being fine" - which I kept on saying to myself...this optimism kept me going and gave me the confidence to complete the project on a successful note.

This morning (OK, this afternoon) when I woke up, it was a weird feeling. The network is up and stable. There's no push to install new sites right now. I could relax - but found myself wanting to work just as hard as I have been over the past two weeks. It's going to take some time to decompress and get back into a normal swing of things...but I know that it will be much healthier to get back to normalcy.

I went for a short run this afternoon. It was tough. I haven't run in over a week, I'm tired, I'm still a bit sick and it was hot and humid outside. But I got in 3 miles (with a bit of walking up a killer hill). It was good to get the rust off - I'll need it as I start marathon training next week!!!! UGH!!!!

No Time To Blog - But Here's a Quick Update

With three more days to go until my project launches, I have been working like a dog. As of Friday night, I had already put in 65 hours - and I'm working Saturday and Sunday too. UGH!

To add to that, I started feeling sick on Sunday evening and I've been battling a cold this whole week. I went to the doctor yesterday and started a Z-pack - excellent decision as I feel sooooo much better today.

With feeling icky and working non-stop, I have not run AT ALL this week :-(

Last night, I opened two emails which contained big news. I would say that they were big surprises too, but both of them were distinct possibilities.

Email 1 - My division of Nortel is being bought out by Nokia Siemens. Read a bit more about it here. I've been with Nortel for almost 16 years! I'm excited to go to a company that has more stability and is not in bankrupcy protection, but I'm also a bit anxious about having to learn the ropes for a new employer.

Email 2 - I have been chosen to run for Team Run To Remember (R2R) at this year's New York City Marathon. I guess all that talk of not doing a full marathon this year is being thrown out the window...

Facebook and Bloggers?

I've been on Facebook for over two years.  I love it!  I have reconnected with lots of old friends and colleagues - some of whom I had lost touch with for over 20 years - and I have learned a lot about many of my friends (i.e. how much time they have on their hands???)

Anyhow, almost all of my "Facebook friends" are people that I personally know (i.e. I have met them in person).  All of that changed about a week ago - one of my "blogging friends" retired her blog and since I'm so swamped, I wasn't able to read the last few posts before she pulled the blog.  I couldn't email her - the only way I had contacted her before was via her blog and that was now gone...but, she's on Facebook.  So I found her and sent her a message to see if she could re-post the blog for another day or so.

Then after one or two messages back-and-forth, I friended her.

The thing is, I'm still not sure if that was a good decision.  On one hand, we both know a lot about each other from our blogs, we have corresponded through the blog-o-sphere and there are a bunch of other running bloggers who I have ended up meeting in person and become friends with (and yes, I have started to friend those folks as well).

On the other hand, can I really call this person a friend?  Do I call this person a "Facebook friend"?  Or is this just part of social networking - and I'm now starting to build a network of running bloggers - or runners (or non-runners) who read my blog?

I guess if it is the last item, then I'll formally invite my readers to come and join my network of blog readers / running bloggers by visiting me on Facebook!

Fitting The Long Run In

Not to sound like a whining, broken record (it just occurred to me that many younger folks in the blogosphere may not know what a broken record is since they were raised on CDs and MP3s - oy! I'm getting old), but I have a daily 7:30am conference call every day until my project launches on Tuesday, June 23.

This would not deter me from getting my Saturday long run in.

By the time I dialed in at 7:31am (yes...I was one minute late - shame on me!), I had 9 miles in the books. And had showered. Woo hoo!

This was my longest run since the Half Marathon I ran in April. Since I had two legit runs of 5 and 4.5 miles this week (plus the two 2 mile run/walks with my son), this run was not more than 50% of my total weekly mileage (i.e. not pushing myself into "overtraining" land even though I haven't been working up to this distance) My legs are a bit sore, but otherwise it was just good to get out and run (and run, and run!)

Final stats - 9.1 miles in 1:34:14 (10:22/mile pace). HR avg - 161, max -177. My HR is still up there starting around mile 3...I'm hoping it's just a fatigue thing - we'll see next month!

A Bit Of Speedwork

I headed out this morning for a run around 6:15am. Yes...that did not leave much time to be back at my desk for my daily 7:30am conference call.

I was hoping to get 5 or 6 miles in this morning, but I "slept in". So, as I started out I decided that I would do my neighborhood 4.5 mile loop and pick up the pace for a tempo run!

I just looked back at my running log to find the last speed workout I did - March 24. Wow! It's been a while.

Here's my splits:
Mile 1 - 10:11, avg HR 140
Mile 2 - 9:34, avg HR 165
Mile 3 - 8:57, avg HR 168
Mile 4 - 8:48, avg HR 173
.47 cooldown in 4:49 (10:14 pace)

I was definitely pleased since I'm a tad rusty in the speed department. Again, the high HR in mile 4 is a bit concerning. When I'm able to get more sleep after my project launches we'll see if that improves.

Oh...and I did make my conference call. I stood at my desk with my desk phone on speaker - drenched in sweat. It's definitely nice taking that call from home!! ;-)

Squeezing In Another Run

The daily 7:30am conference calls are not deterring me!

I got another run in before the call - this time a 5 miler at the gym on the treadmill. I had originally planned to run outside. I was thinking I would do my typical 5 or 6 mile loop. However, mother nature had other plans...I would have gladly run in the rain, but thunder and lightning sent me to the gym instead of on the roads.

I used the TechnoGym treadmill's heart rate program - starting at 140 bpm and bumping it up a bit after each mile until the last mile I had it set at 150 bpm. My speed jumped around between 5.0 and 6.2 mph the entire time. I ended up doing the 5 miles in 55:55 (11:10/mile pace) with an average HR of 144. A bit slow, but I feel like I'm starting out again - and I'm no where near caught up on sleep.

Otherwise, the usual gym stuff. I recognize many of the "frequent 6am treadmillers". We're all plugged into our iPods or watching television - aware enough of the other runners to recognize their faces, but staying in our own little worlds and not uttering a sentence to anyone. At times I want to go up to some of them and strike up a conversation, ask what they're training for, etc. - but on the flip side, would I want someone interrupting my workout for small talk???

Tonight is my Israeli Dance group, so I will not be waking up early for a run (unless it's a short run with my son). So, hopefully on Thursday I'll get another quality run in.

Two For One!

I did get up early enough to run this morning. It was a little before 6am and I saw my son's light on - I asked him if he wanted to come running with me and at first he said no (he complained his knee was hurting him - he had fallen during his laser tag birthday party yesterday...). However, as I was getting ready, he changed his mind and off we went!

I still haven't pushed him up from the 3 minute jog / 1 minute walk yet since we have not been running so frequently as of late. We did 7 of these "sets" and covered 2 miles. After the 6th set we were near a water fountain - my son took in a huge amount of water and ended up getting a stomach cramp on the last run. I hope that was a learning experience for him...we'll see next time!

When I returned home, my 3 1/2 year old was waiting patiently for me to come home so WE could run together. We had a nice (uncontrolled) run around the block :-)

Maybe one day soon all three of us will be able to go out running together...

Finally Another 20 Mile Week!

Despite having a 7:30am conference call on Saturday morning (and Sunday morning too...I can't wait for my project to launch on June 23 so the madness ends!!), I was able to get a 7.6 mile run in on Saturday morning.

That gave me about 21 miles for the week. The first over-20 mile week since mid-May. Actually, I haven't had back-to-back 20 miles weeks since March. Ick.

Note to self...make sure I get 20 miles in this week. My emotional stability needs it.

Starting Over? and Is The Running Community United or Divided?

Last week's mileage total - 5.2 miles. UGH!!!! I wasn't even injured (just exhausted, so if I did run more I may have ended up injured)

In an effort to get back in a groove, I psyched myself up to get up early this morning and get out for a run. Although I felt dead-to-the-world at 5:35am when I first looked at the clock, I made myself get out of bed and go out for a run.

The first mile seemed treacherous. 11:06 pace. 148 avg heart rate. I felt like I was starting over after and injury or long layoff from running.

I checked my running log, and it hasn't been that long - 3 weeks ago I had a 22 mile week. Come on!

Luckily, as the run went on the rust seemed to wear off. Although it still didn't feel as easy as an "easy run" should be, my next three mile splits were: 10:58 (147 avg HR), 10:03 (151 avg HR), and 10:14 (152 avg HR).

And with 4.4 miles in the books on Monday morning, I'm all set to eclipse last week's total. Perhaps by tomorrow morning.
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On Sunday, I ventured out to Barnes and Noble and got me a copy of the running classic, Once A Runner. This book was out-of-print for quite some time - and impossible to get a copy - but in April it was re-released in hard cover. I've had a B&N gift card since December, and I finally got around to using the darn thing!

Anyhow, I know I don't have much time to start reading a book (only 3 more weeks from tomorrow until my project launches!), but I ended up reading the first page and a half - hoping that it would perhaps give me some inspiration to start running more regularly again this week.

What I read so far left me utterly pissed off...

I guess the main character in the book - and the author - is a pretty competitive runner (I think part of the premise is that this runner is trying to run a sub-4 minute mile). So the book opens as the main character is returning to the track and sees a bunch of "overweight joggers". And he doesn't have a high regard for these folks at the track.

Well...I gotta say that I can relate a bit more to the overweight jogger than the elite runner. And if the entire book is going to be filled with this, then this may not be the inspiring running book I was hoping to read.

So...of course after my treacherous first mile today, I started thinking about the book and it's condescending comments about the "overweight joggers" as I plod along at an 11 minute mile pace. And I was starting to get even more pissed off.

Then, in the distance I see a woman booking down the sidewalk towards me. Even though she was about half a mile away, I could tell that she was running at a really fast pace. As we approached each other, I saw that it was a friend of mine who is a super-fast runner (she's run Boston a number of times and has age-group placed in a few of the races that I have run in). As we got closer to each other I said good-morning and started to applaud her blazing pace - she said to me, "I thought I would see you out here running at this hour!"

At that point I finally got some validation that my "jogging" and her faster "running" were equal. We're both putting in the time to "put one foot in front of the other, repeat many times" no matter how much distance we cover in that time. We are a united group of runners - not a divided group of joggers and elites.

And with that one little exchange, I think I'll be able to enjoy the book after all. (and perhaps I'll lend it to my fast friend after I finally finish it...)

Totally Exhausted

It's been awhile since I really could not drag myself out of bed at 6:30am - but that happened this morning.  I actually stayed in bed until about 7:15 and finally got into a shower so I could get to work on time.

My Memorial Day Weekend at Hora Aviv really sucked the energy out of me.  It was a great weekend - but I am totally exhausted with no respite in sight.  Maybe I'll get to catch up on sleep this weekend???  Will I last that long???

Anyhow, I finished out last week's running with 18 miles.  I did a 7 miler on Friday morning - running to the Rockville Fitness First.  On the whole it wasn't a very pretty run, but it did have its moments - especially running past some of the older Victorian style houses in old Rockville.  After the run, I went for a nice brunch with my wife and then went to pick up our younger son from Nursery School (he was really excited to see both of us there!).

I had packed my running gear for Hora Aviv, but I never got around to running.  I was dancing so much that when I had a break I wanted to relax and not run.  I stayed up until 1 am on Friday and then 3 am on both Saturday and Sunday nights.  I didn't have my kids to wake me up, but I still didn't sleep more and 6 hours either night.  Will I ever be able to sleep in again??

Anyhow, since I couldn't get my behind out of bed this morning, there was no morning run.  With no Monday or Tuesday running, the most I can hope for is 3 running days this week (maybe 4 if I go running with my son one morning).

As I mentioned in my last post - I just need to hang in there for 4 more weeks, and then I'll have a lot more time to run/blog/relax.

Five More Weeks

My current project launches in five more weeks.

Although I have liked being busy and I enjoy the work, I also will like being able to get a bit more sleep and get back into running - and blogging - regularly.

I started thinking about it on my run this morning - at the end of June, my project will have launched (it will still keep me busy with post-launch activities, but I likely won't be logging back into work at 9 or 10pm every night to catch up) and rehearsals for the Israeli Dance troupe will be on summer break, so I'll have Wednesday nights back too. What will I do with the extra time???

Anyhow - It's looking like I may get close to 25 miles in this week. So far I have run 11 - two with my son on Monday morning, 5.5 on Tuesday morning and 3.5 miles today. Tomorrow I'm taking the day off from work and I'm going to run to the Fitness First in Rockville, while Sherry will go there to work out after driving our son to school. This will be a 7 or 8 mile run - depending on which roads I decide to take.

I know...it's a crazy concept - running to the gym and then just using the facilities as a place to shower. My wife thinks I'm nuts!

I will hopefully get a weekend run in as well. I'm not 100% sure as I'll likely be exhausted - I'm taking 10 teenagers from the troupe to a weekend-long Israeli Dance "camp"/workshop - Hora Aviv. I'll already be getting tons of exercise, but I will bring my running shoes and Garmin and hopefully get a run in one morning.

And maybe I'll have time to blog??? We'll see...

Somethings Gotta Give

I'm about as busy as can be right now at work - not to mention other commitments (kids, Israeli Dancing, running, etc.) - I barely have time to do much else. (as I write this, I have 3 active (work-related) IM windows up and listening in on a conference bridge - and this is some of my "less busy" times where I can throw up a blog post - YIKES!)

As I was discussing all of this with Sherry the other night, she was pretty amazed that I'm able to keep everything going. Her words were "Something's gotta give" - you can't be continuing to do everything.

Yesterday, I got the hard dose of reality what had gone by the wayside. Blogging. Both reading and writing blogs.

I logged into my Google Reader last night and had over 120 unread posts. YIKES!!!

Also, my last post to this blog was on Sunday. And this blog post is not much more than a rant of how busy I am (sorry to my readers...I'll try to get back to more running related posts).

On the running side - I have 10 miles logged this week. Tuesday morning I brought my car to the shop early and ran back home (6.5 miles...my wife thought I was nuts!). Thursday morning I also got out for a 3 miler around the lakes.

I also ran twice with my son - about 2 miles each run. I'm not sure if I should count this in my weekly mileage, as these runs are still run 2 minutes / walk 1 minute - there's something about doing a run/walk at such a pedestrian pace that makes me feel it's not "legit" enough for the running log. I'm going to try to push him up to 3 minutes of running soon. - we'll see how that goes as he's currently starting to whine during his 2 minute runs...but he finishes them all. Either way, it's great exercise for him, it's special one-on-one time for the two of us and he loves it!

Another High HR Run

I'm not sure why my heart rate is elevating higher than normal on my easy effort runs lately.  Saturday morning I went for a short "long run" - only 6.5 miles.  I did a route which was new to me - from my house to the lake around the Rio/Washingtonian Center and back.  The hills aren't too bad and my pace didn't change too much - I stayed in the 10:30 to 10:50/mile pace throughout the run - however, my average heart rate was over 160 after the first two miles.

The run started out fine - a 10:30/mile pace with an average heart rate of 137.  However after that it started going up.

Perhaps it's still fatigue?  Perhaps I'm not drinking enough water?  (I'm not working from my office a lot lately, so it's more coffee and sodas than water at the office...and more alcohol at night to recover from the work day ;-)

Luckily, my big project launches in a little over 6 weeks, so if it is fatigue, I know that after June 23, I should be able to get some more rest.

Finally A Run! And Another Failed Platelets Donation :-(

This week has been a doozy at work. The system that we're deploying had an outage this week and I've been on lots of recovery, troubleshooting and root cause analysis calls. Last night's call went until 11:30pm - YUCK!

Anyhow, I'm pretty confident that I'll have more 14 hour days ahead of me in the next 6 weeks. With a bunch more layoffs occurring at my company this week, I can't really complain too much...

My wonderful wife let me "sleep in" until about 6:45am this morning (OK, my younger son ran into the room at 6am to declare that he waited "until there was a 6 on the clock" before coming into our room. I decided that I would get to the office a bit later than normal since I worked so late last night, and I went out for a 4 mile run before work.

It was such a wonderful day to run. Sun shining, 60 degrees, slight breeze - truly scrumptious! My first mile seemed effortless - even after not running for a full 4 days - 10:14 with an average HR of 142.

However, the effortless feeling would not last long. My heart rate started to elevate a bit on mile 2, to the point that by the time I got to the big hill on Argosy Street, I either needed to walk or see my heart rate in the 160s early in the run. I elected to walk. I think it was a good move as by the time I got to the top of the hill and was ready to run again, my heart rate was back down in the 130s.

Final Stats - 4.46 miles, 47:11; a 10:35/mile pace. Avg HR 154, Max HR 183

At lunchtime, I attempted a platelets donation once again. I won't go into the gory details, but it ended just like the last time - with a stinging bulge in my right (receiving) arm. I guess I'm going to have to stick to whole blood donations - which of course brings my average heart rate up on my runs for a few days, and doesn't get back to normal for about 3 weeks. I don't know if I can afford for my HR to get any higher (and my running any slower) than it is now...

The Marathon - One Year Later

It has been a full year since I ran my first marathon. I'm a bit surprised that I'm still blogging - although, it is not as often as I was leading up to the big race.

I'm glad that I am still running consistently - I know of many people who get to that marathon goal and then burn-out or drop-out from running altogether.

Not only am I still running consistently, the past year has me in my running "prime". I ran a full marathon. I set PRs in the 5K and Half Marathon. I am definitely "a runner" now.

One funny example of my "runner" status - this Saturday morning as I was about to get out of bed to go for a run, my wife asked me "how long will you be running today?" My answer was 6 or 7 miles and her response was "Good, you're not doing a long run this morning...".

As soon as this exchange was over, I wondered to myself when did the transformation actually happen? When I trained for my first 10K about 7 years ago, I used to have knee pain any time I attempted to run more than 5 miles. Now I'm at the point where only running 6 or 7 on a weekend morning is a "short" run.

Anyhow, with the exception of the Run For The Shelter Half Marathon, my runs over the past 6 weeks have been shorter and with virtually no speedwork. I'm chalking this up to fatigue with everything else going on in my life right now. Over the past two years, I likely would have stressed out about slacking so much. However, I'm not going to sweat it right now since I believe that once my schedule becomes kinder, I'll be back to hitting the track once a week and going longer on the weekend. Because I now know that running is an integral part of my life...

Crazy, Busy Week

This past week was Yom Ha'atzmaut - Israel's Independence Day.  So, I had a bunch of Israeli Dance events going on - teaching at a religious school on Sunday morning, a performance with the troupe I lead on Monday afternoon, my normal weekly group on Tuesday evening and the troupe's rehearsal on Wednesday evening.

Adding to the stresses of additional Israeli Dance gigs, work was a pressure cooker this week.  My customer instituted a daily 6:30pm call to review the progress of the day and discuss the next day's schedule.  I luckily got most of my teams caught up to the point where we are now waiting for them - but with 7 more weeks before launch, there will be tons of pressure at work for me until late June.

Despite all of this, I was able to get out and run 3 mornings by myself - and another bonus morning with my son!  As much as waking up before 6am to run makes me a bit sleep deprived, I'm not sure I'd be able to handle the pressure without the release of running.

The fatigue of the week definitely showed up in my performance.  My pace was around 10:45/mile each morning and my average HR kept going higher as the week went on.  Unfortunately, I don't see it getting much better soon...

The Runner's Coffee House

Sherry had a tutoring gig this afternoon, so I was kicked out of my office and ducked into a neighborhood coffee shop that I hadn't been to before. I had run by it a bunch of times and saw a sign in the window that they had free wi-fi, so I thought I would try it out.

The weather here had become cooler and rainy, so I threw on my Frederick Marathon pull-over before heading out (I had considered riding my bike but decided to drive - good thing to as it started to pour while I was there).

The cafe was quiet and only had a handful of people there. I went up to order and the "barrista" asked if I was running Frederick this weekend (she saw my marathon pullover) and that she was running the Half. Very cool! We started a conversation about running as I was booting up my computer and getting back to work.

Later on in the afternoon, there was a time where there were only four people in the coffee house...and all four of us were runners!

Anyhow, I don't feel like much of a runner lately. On Monday morning I got out and did a 3 miler, and then due to work and other craziness I haven't gotten to bed until after midnight the past two nights. I'll see if I can get to bed earlier tonight so I can run tomorrow morning...even if it is just another easy 2.5 with my son.

Morning Run/Walk With My Son

This morning, I actually woke up before 6am and got out of bed to run! I guess I'm finally starting to feel like myself again.

When I left my room, I noticed that the light in my son's room was on. At 6 years old, he's still an early bird (people promise me that in about 6 or 7 years that we'll struggle to get him out of bed every morning...I just don't believe it at this point). I went to his room and asked if he wanted to run with me - he lit up on the spot!

My plan for him - run/walk for about 30 minutes...2 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking - repeat 10 times.

We left the house around 6:05am to a chilly, crisp 38 degree morning and started to walk as a warm up. At that point my son was complaining on how cold it was outside. We only walked for 2 minutes as my son wanted to start running to get warmer - so I obliged and we started our first two minute slow run.

Of course, at the beginning it was really easy for Doron - but he started to get tired about half way through the fourth or fifth run.

We ran through the neighborhood and up to our "downtown" - past the movie theaters, the Star Diner and many of the other stores (and unfortunately - many "For Lease" signs...it seems like new ones pop up each week). After that we went towards Inspiration Lake where we saw many different types of birds to my son's amazement. I'm used to seeing all of these feathered friends, but it was all new to him. A red cardinal, a few red-winged blackbirds and we even had a visit from the great blue heron that frequents the lakes in our neighborhood!!

At the end, we ended up doing 11 "sets" of 2 minute runs and 1 minute walks. We covered 2.45 miles in a pedestrian 38:33 (15:37/mile pace). However, Doron made it through all of the two minute run sets...and he can't wait for his next morning run!!! Perhaps a summer 5k for him is not such a crazy goal after all...

Looking Ahead - It's 5K Season!

It's kind of a weird feeling - I really have NOTHING on my running calendar right now.  (OK, I just finished running a Half Marathon yesterday...give yourself a break!!!)

So, I went over to the Montgomery County Road Runner's Club website to see what "low-key" races they have.  When I started running, I used to go to these races a lot.  First of all, they're free to club members.  Second of all, they're all local races which makes it really easy to fit into the schedule.

Between now and early June, there are four 5K races - two cross-country races and two road races (one of these are on an asphalt trail - but I don't think it qualifies as a trail race since it's on asphalt!).

It looks like I may be focusing on the 5K for the next few months.  The price is right, the races are close and I don't have to train a ton.  Unless I want to try and beat my PR from last summer...

After June, I'll likely switch gears to distance again and train for Riley's Rumble and the Parks Half Marathons.  Perhaps I'll sneak another Half Marathon in the October/November timeframe as well.

Run For The Shelter Half Marathon Race Report

I'll spare everyone the suspense now (and hope you'll all continue to read anyway...), but I met my "B" goal for this race with a new PR - 2:13:22!!!!  That's a PR by 2 minutes and 32 seconds!!!

As I mentioned in my last post, I laid everything out the night before so I could get out the door quickly and get to the race on time.  One thing I neglected to mention was that I was wearing a new shirt (I know...it's not good to try anything new out on race day) - my Wolverines Run shirt!  The Alumni Association of the University of Michigan is sending out free running t-shirts to Alumni Association members who are running marathons.  (OK...so this isn't a full marathon, so I kinda cheated the system, but I did run a full marathon last year and didn't know about the program then...)  Either way, I got a bunch of "Go BLUE!" and "Go Michigan!" cheers from fellow runners and spectators of the race (and only a few "Go Buckeyes" from obnoxious Ohio State fans) - so that a bit of a pick-me-up during the race.

I woke up before my alarm around 5:45am and got out of the house rather quickly.  There were very few cars on the road, so I got out to Leesburg around 7:15am.  So, I had 45 minutes to kill before the 8am race start (or so I thought).  Luckily, I brought a book, so I read for about 20 minutes and then got out of my car for a 20 minute pre-race routine - warm up jog, hit the porta potty one last time, take my GU 15 minutes before race time, etc.  At around 7:55am, I noticed that no one was gathering near the start yet.  What's going on???  I asked around and found out that the race start was 8:30am - not 8am!  So I had another 30 minutes to wait before the race got started.

I actually bumped into a friend of mine from my teenage years (we were both in BBYO together) who was also running the race.  He just got back into running this year and was running his second half marathon (his first was the National Marathon last month where he ran a 1:50 - a full 25 minutes faster than my best...so we would not be running together today!).  It was great to catch up with him, but as people finally started lining up for the start, he went towards the front and I hung out in the middle-to-back of the pack. 

Finally, the race started a tad after 8:30!  The course started at the 4H Fairgrounds and wound down the road for 0.1 mile to hit the W&OD Trail.  The race then went west on the W&OD trail for 6.5 miles and then came back.  My first thoughts at the start of this race were, "oh no, we're going downhill for the first 0.1 mile - that means the last 0.1 at the end is UPHILL - UGH!!!"

The course was rolling hills, but not too bad.  The elevation graph from my Garmin shows an elevation differential of about 200 ft over the course.  The first mile was a lot of uphill while the second mile was mostly down (I didn't remember this while I was trying to pick up the pace on mile 12...where did this uphill come from?).

My main concern was keeping my HR relatively low - under 155 - for the first half of the race and then getting faster on the second half.  Even if I ran a 2:20 or 2:25 today, if I did it with a negative split, I could have pride in the fact that I ran a smart race.

I kept to the plan pretty well for the first four miles:

- Mile 1: 10:37, avg HR 153

- Mile 2: 9:37, avg HR 152 (downhill, remember?)

- Mile 3: 10:04, avg HR 154

- Mile 4: 10:20, avg HR 155

Miles 5 and 6 started to climb uphill a bit (which I didn't mind so much as I knew that this would be coming downhill very soon).  I also started to get into the camaraderie of the race - I ended up speaking to one of the Buckeye runners about Big 10 Football, and I started to cheer for the faster runners who were now making their way back from the turnaround.  My heart rate started to climb up a bit, but unfortunately not with any gains in pace due to the hills:

- Mile 5: 10:57, avg HR 158

- Mile 6: 11:11, avg HR 151

- Mile 6 to Turnaround: 5:57 (10:04/mi pace), avg HR 159

After the turnaround, I felt really good.  I had run at a pretty relaxed pace, I had fueled and hydrated well (there were 3 water stops on the course - which meant 6 stops in total for the out-and-back - and two of them had GU!!!) and although I knew I had 6.5 more miles to go, I felt confident that I could pick up the pace.  I started to turn it up a notch and started to pass many of the runners who had passed me in the opening miles.

Unfortunately, I no longer have the splits at the mile markers.  You see, I didn't realize that when I hit the lap button on my Garmin at the turnaround point, that now the Garmin's auto-lap feature would count miles from the last lap.  I finally hit the lap button again at the 11 mile marker so I could get my splits for miles 12 and 13.

- Mile 7.55 - 10:17, avg HR 164

- Mile 8.55 - 9:34, avg HR 166

- Mile 9.55 - 9:59, avg HR 168

When I hit the 10 mile marker, I saw that I was at 1:44 and change.  I new that if I could finish out with a 30 minute 5k, that I would have myself a new PR!  I still felt like I had gas in the tank unlike my experience that the Parks Half Marathon this past September, and my legs did not hurt like they had in previous runnings of Riley's Rumble Half Marathon.  Time to turn it up a notch and finish it out strong:

- Mile 10.55 - 10:03 avg HR 174 (can we say uphill??)

- Mile 11 - also 10:03/mi pace, avg HR 178

- Mile 12 - 9:56, avg HR 181 (more uphill...grr)

- Mile 13 - 9:08, avg HR 185 (finally downhill! and pushing it)

- Last 0.1 - 7:42/mi pace (uphill, that is...) avg HR 193 (isn't my max HR 186 or something??)

As I was passing the clock at the finish line, it was reading 1:13:38 (or something like that...results still aren't posted).  Garmin time was 1:13:22.  Since it took me a good 20 seconds to get to the starting line - and this race is not chip timed - I think I'll take my Garmin time for now :-)

One thing that I'm a bit perplexed about.  My Garmin measured the race at 13.19 miles - not 13.1.  Also, the Garmin hit mile splits earlier than where the race had the mile markers...starting with mile 2.  I'm not sure if this is a race measurement thing or that my Garmin is a tad off (given that a lot of the trail I ran today was wooded, I'll say it was probably a Garmin thing).

So, I'm not sure if I ran 13.1 or 13.2 today, but it was definitely a PR.  Even with taking a ten day running break three weeks before race day due to bronchitis.

I'll take it easy again this week.  I have nothing else on the race calendar - so I have some work to do!!!

The Night Before My Half Marathon - UGH!

OK...I'm not freaking out too badly.  However, I seem to have a bit of anxiety this time around.

Perhaps it's because I don't feel "ready" to run a timed 13.1 miles tomorrow?  Due to not training much after recovering from bronchitis?  Due to still feeling I'd rather stay in bed than getting out of bed for my morning runs?  Due to the fact that I'm just 24 hours removed from an exhausting vacation with my two rambunctious -full-of-energy sons at Great Wolf Lodge?

Perhaps it's not because I'm worried about can I cover the distance (my worry for my first half marathon), but more that I'm not sure what kind of race I'll run.  The last half marathon I ran I stopped running around mile 10 and walked (with a little running) the rest of the way.  I haven't run anything over 7 miles in the past month!  How am I going to get through 13???  (OK, so perhaps I am worried about covering the distance after all...)

On the flip side, I have two things going for me - 1) the weather is supposed to be wonderful - race time should be partly cloudy with temperatures in the 50s.  2) I don't have high expectations for this race, so the pressure is off.  I'm not aiming for a specific time or a new PR, so if I do awesome, that's wonderful - and if I don't, that's OK too.

My race plan hasn't changed much from what I thought about last weekend.  Keep my HR under 155 for the first 6.5 miles.  From mile 6.5 to mile 10, keep my HR under 165.  For the last 5k, see how I'm feeling - if I feel good, kick it up a notch; if I feel lousy do what I need to do to get across the finish line.

I've got my things ready to go - my Garmin is charged, my race bib is pinned to my shirt (BTW...my bib number is 40 - I almost feel like an elite runner with a number that low!), I have everything else laid out - GU, body glide, 3M Nexcare waterproof tape to prevent nipple chafe (very important!), water bottle, etc.

Last thing to do is get a good night sleep.  I guess the kids will have something to say about that one...let's hope their not up in the night.  I have some Children's Benedryl ready if they dare enter my room while I'm sleeping!   :-)

Running in the Morning - Finally!

I finally got a morning run in today!

I woke up about 6:10am and quickly got in my workout clothes.  It was cold and rainy outside, but I had planned accordingly and my gym back was packed.

I decided to do a little speedwork, but I ended up running out of steam before I could finish the entire workout.  I was going to try to do intervals of 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and 1 miles with 1/4 mile recoveries.  I set the treadmill for 5.4 mph recoveries (11 min/mile pace) and 7.4 mph intervals (a little under an 8 min mile pace).

My HR was up in the mid-170s at the end of my second interval, and it hit 180 after the 3/4 mile interval.  So I knew that I couldn't run the mile as an interval.  Instead I ran it a little faster than a 10 minute mile for the first 3/4 and then back up to the 8 min mile pace for the last quarter.

Stats - 4.5 miles, 44:27 - 9:53/mile pace.  Avg HR 158, Max HR 180.

I'm going to try a short easy run tomorrow morning.  After that we're taking the kids to Great Wolf Lodge for a little vacation!!!  We'll be back Friday evening - just in time to recouperate before the Half Marathon on Sunday.

BTW...the weather report for Sunday looks nice.  No rain, high of 65 degrees (race time will likely be in the 50s - beautiful!).  I just hope I'm in good enough shape to get through the entire 13.1 miles...

Two Running Days In A Row!

Even though I'm not back up to 100% of where I was pre-bronchitis, I definitely have the bronchitis beat!  I ran for the second day in a row - and no hacking up a lung - Woo Hoooooo!

Anyhow, I'm still not up to waking up early in the morning to get my run in - I'm staying up way too late to do that.  One of these days I'll try to get back on a "runner's schedule" and go to sleep earlier.

Since I didn't get the run in earlier - and there was a large chunk of my late morning without a conference call or other work meeting - I took the opportunity to get into my running clothes around 11:30am and sneak out for a lunchtime run.  My neighborhood 4.4 mile loop - which I hadn't run in two months.

A few observations:  it felt a lot chillier than the 49 degrees which the weather site said it was; whoa! - that hill on Argosy Drive is much steeper than I remember it; I'm starting to feel a bit sore (I just ran 7 miles yesterday, right?).  I even got a bit of a fartlek into my run - when I turned onto Muddy Branch Road, I saw that if I picked up the pace that I would be able to cross Great Seneca Highway with the light instead of waiting for another round of lights - or running up the side of the street with no sidewalk and then playing Frogger to get across the road later on.

I listened to music on today's run - Green Day's American Idiot - so I had a hard time keeping my pace slow like yesterday.  Since I did so well reigning it in yesterday, I didn't care about controlling it today.

Not that I was blazing fast or anything - 4.46 miles in 45:39 - a 10:14/mile pace.  Avg HR of 158.

Tomorrow is a definite rest day.  Then I'll run Wednesday and Thursday and rest until Sunday's race.

Semi-Long Run On The Crescent Trail

I know that I was supposed to do a 9 miler this weekend, but since I only had run 3 miles so far this week, I thought that 9 was going to be pushing too much.  I had decided yesterday to run 6-7 miles - and to simulate the strategy for the first half of next weekend's Half Marathon...keep my heart rate under 155 bpm.

My initial plan was to head out early in the morning - like a usually do for my longer runs.  However, Sherry and I were out late and I couldn't get my butt out of bed (since I got sick a few weeks ago, that's been a common occurrence).  We had talked about going to the gym and having the kids play in the child-care room - however, DUH, it's Easter Sunday...no child care today.

Finally, I found my opportunity to run in the mid-afternoon.  My younger son went down for a nap and my older son was going to a friend's house for a playdate!  Since I had some time on my hands - and it was a sunny, clear day - I decided to head on down to Bethesda and run on the Capital Crescent Trail.

I had run on this trail a few times - but never more than a few miles.  I decided to do 7 miles - 3.5 miles out and then come back.  I really would like to do a really long run here - a 16 miler I think would allow me to start in Bethesda and get all the way to Georgetown and then come back.  Or perhaps a 10 miler could get me down to Georgetown and then to the Dupont Circle Metro stop and then Metro back to Bethesda (I'm not sure if anyone would like to actually sit near me on that metro ride...)

Anyhow, my HRM was doing some weird stuff during the first mile.  I was running at a 11:30 - 12:00/mile pace and my heart rate was registering in the high 160s (it even bounced up to 192 at one point).  I was pretty sure these were false readings, but since I'm still coming off of being sick there was a part of me that may have believed them.  Finally, the numbers started to drop into the 150s and then the 140s and finally into the mid-130s - right where I would expect them to be at this pace.  Thank goodness!

The trail is relatively flat - there are no steep hills (OK, there are a few overpasses which are steep) but a few points where there is a continuous climb up or down.  There are trees on either side which is very nice, and no cars!  Just other runners, walkers and cyclists.  It was great to spend the afternoon with a bunch of other fitness enthusiasts!!!

A few miles into my run, I came up with a great idea: Since in the Half Marathon, I want to keep my heart rate under 155 for the first 6.5 miles and then bump it up into the 155-165 range for a few miles, I can practice that here on this run - after mile 6.5, bump up the pace a bit for the last half mile.  This worked out pretty well - except for the fact that the last half mile was uphill...so I couldn't really "push it" so much as I was just trying to keep up the pace while my heart rate increased.

My splits were pretty much all over the place - 11:10, 10:22, 9:56, 10:16, 9:28, 11:16 and 10:33.  However, my average HR on each split was right on target - 155 (even with the high numbers at the beginning), 143, 148, 153, 152, 155, 160 (after I picked up the pace for the second half mile).

Overall, the 7 miles took me 1:13:07 which is a 10:27/mile pace.  If I am able to keep a pace like this next weekend over the entire 13.1 mile course, I'd have a time of 2:16:54 - exactly 1 minute off of my Half Marathon PR.  So...a PR is still in reach, although I doubt a 2:11:00 is doable at this point.

Rain is in the forecast for the next few days, however, I'll try to run two or three times this week - perhaps tomorrow, Tuesday and Thursday.  Thursday and Friday we're taking the boys to Great Wolf Lodge for a getaway at the end of the week - it should be fun (and I'm excited for the days off of work!!!).

Finally A Run Today!

I finally got out to run today.  I couldn't drag my ass out of bed in the morning, so I ended up doing an easy 3 miles at lunch (OK, it was 3.4 miles, but who's counting???)

I ended up settling in at a 10:00/mile pace for most of the run - splits were 10:00, 9;57, 10:04.  Great, right?  Well, sort of.  My average HR on each of the miles were 146, 157 and 159.  That's way too high for an easy 3 mile run.

I've pretty much come to terms that there will be no PR for me at next weekend's Run For The Shelter Half Marathon.  Right now my race plan is this - keep the HR under 155 for the first 6.5 miles, run the next 3.5 miles at a bit of a faster pace (HR in the 155- 165 range) and if there is anything left in the tank, run the last 5K as fast as I can.  This way I can (a) enjoy the race at the beginning and (b) almost ensure myself a negative split.  Got to find those silver linings somewhere, right?

So, I'm planning to do a 6 miler this weekend - most likely on Sunday.  My plan there is to keep my HR under 155 - to kind of simulate the first 6 miles of the race.  This will be difficult as it looks like I tend to push the pace to what "feels right" - and right now it's likely too fast for me. I hope I can pull in the reigns and pull it off.

Feeling Better - But Still Not Running

The good news - antibiotics are doing their thing and I'm no longer hacking the night away.  Also, my "soccer injury" is fine...ice and rest were all I needed.

The not so good news - I still haven't made it back into the running groove.  Passover started last night - and we hosted a seder with 15 people (tonight we're hosting another seder for 18 - oy!) so I've been up late preparing, which means the last thing I want to do is wake up early to run.  I was thinking of perhaps doing a lunchtime run today, but I'd feel really guilty if I go out and run while my wife is watching the kids and preparing dinner for 18 people (actually, I should really go into the house and have her go for a quick run to let off the steam that I'm sure will have accumulated by 12:30pm in that situation...).

I'll likely be going to bed late tonight, but maybe I'll be able to muster up the strength to go out for an early morning easy run tomorrow.  I need to get back to running.

Bronchitis Again

I've still been hacking away during the afternoons and evenings, and since it's been lingering now for about 10 days, I went to the doctor.  Bronchitis.  Likely started as a sinus infection which drained to my chest.

I'm on Antibiotics now which will hopefully kick this out of my system fast so I can get back to running!

Finally Running Again!!!

I got out for an easy 3 this morning - my usual loop around the lake.  I didn't know what to expect since I hadn't run in over 10 days and I still have some gook moving around in my nose and chest.

I ended up running an 11:04/mile pace at an average HR of 151.  Not too bad.  Although looking back in my training log I found I ran this exact same route about 1:00/mile faster at about the same HR a month ago.

My plan was to ramp up my mileage this week with runs of 3, 6, 3 and 9 miles and then taper a bit next week to prepare for the Half Marathon on April 20.

It's a nice plan - but it may have been thwarted by an injury I got this afternoon while playing with my kids.  I was kicking a soccer ball with my 3 year old and I decided to try and get fancy, over-run the ball and kick it back to him using my heel.  Well, I didn't over-run the ball enough and my foot ended up coming down right on top of the ball.  My foot rolled over towards the ground and then my entire body rolled over on my foot.  OUCH!

I've iced the foot a bit - it's still tender.  However, I don't think I've pulled/sprained/broken anything since there is no swelling.  Just an "ouchie".  Thank goodness!!!

Still No Running

It's Friday - and still no running since last Tuesday morning. YIKES!

I'm still a bit congested, but I don't feel as achey and run down any more. That's the good news.

I'll likely go for a weekend run - either my normal Saturday morning run or perhaps I'll push it out a day for a little more recovery and run on Sunday. Both should be nice mornings - above freezing and no rain!

However, now that I've lost a week and a half of training, I have no idea where to pick up. My half marathon is two weeks from Sunday - so I should be tapering down a bit on the mileage after this weekend. I was planning to do a 15 miler tomorrow - now, I'll be happy with an easy 3 or 4 just to get back into the swing of things!

Right now, I'm hoping to (a) just run a little this weekend and continue to kick this cold out of my system and (b) be well enough to do four runs next week - hopefully 3, 6, 3 and 9 milers. The week after will be my taper - but I'll probably still follow the 3, 6, 3 formula.

I'm also tapering my expectations on this race. I had some pretty big goals for this race. First and foremost was a PR (current HM PR is 2:15:54...although I did run a faster 13.1 miles at the beginning of the Frederick Marathon last year). My reach goal was sub-2:10. I definitely feel I have some sub-2:10 HMs in me - however, with the stoppage in training this time around, I don't know if it will be this one.

We'll see how quickly I can ramp back up into running and what my pace/HR levels look like...

Sick, Sore and Tired

I'm still feeling under the weather.  Yuck!

My whirlwind trip to New York for the Israeli Dance Festival there went well - but very tiring.  The teens I co-direct did great!  And I also danced this year - for the first time in about 4 years.  Here's the video for Hora DC  (I don't come in until the third song, and since it is videotaped from the back of the theater, you probably won't recognize me anyway!).  Unfortunately, the show went long and we didn't leave NY City until after 7:30pm....so I didn't get home until after 12:30am.

Even though I took Monday off from work, I had lots to do on the "honey-do" list, plus I got called from work a few times anyway.  I guess it was good I was feeling a bit icky since I may not have had time to get a run in anyway.  At least this way I had a decent excuse!

I still feel sore in my quads.  You would think that being a runner that I would not have too many issues with soreness after a 5 minute dance performance (OK, we rehearsed it a bunch of times on Sunday morning before going on stage...).  I'm thinking that being sick and run down has slowed my recovery.

In the meantime - no running and I'm trying to get more rest.  I hate being sick!

Sick Again :-(

Well...my hectic schedule got the best of me and I'm sick.  I tried going to bed early last night and hacked the night away (poor Sherry...why does she put up with me???)

My throat is scratchy and I have a bunch of gook in my nasal passages.  ICK!

I'll likely call off the long run tomorrow.  If I'm feeling better, perhaps I'll go out for an easy 4 or 5, but definitely not a 9 miler.

Especially since I'm taking 12 teens to New York tomorrow afternoon and then performing on Sunday at the Israeli Dance Festival in New York.

I gotta rest up!!!

Check Up at the Doctor

Today was my "annual" physical (annual is in quotes, because I don't get one every year - it's more like every 2-3 years).  This included my blood work and cholesterol check (which is annual due to how high my cholesterol was 5 years ago and my family history of high cholesterol and heart disease).

I won't get my blood work results until Monday afternoon, but here's a few of the other numbers:

The good - Blood pressure - 108 over 70.  Resting Pulse - 48 (huh?  I'm usually around 60...she must have missed a beat or two)

The not so good - Weight - 170 lbs (damn doctor's scale!)

My doc took a look at me and said, "You don't look 170 pounds!"  Of course not, I'm the skinny guy, right???  But the doctor wants me to lose some weight - first goal should be 160 lbs, and then I should be able to get down to 150.  (I can't remember the last time I weighed 150 - maybe Middle School?)

The other thing is that I need to come in for an EKG.  We could not do it today because of the shag carpet I'm flaunting on my chest.  So I need to shave my own chest and make another appointment to do the EKG.  I'm not sure which I prefer, getting the EKG with my hairy chest and having the nurse pull off half the hair of my chest when taking the electrode sensors off (not pretty...been there, done that!) or having to shave my own chest and go to the doctor's office again.  I guess this time I don't have a choice...

So...today's doctor's appointment was no surprises.  Low pulse, low blood pressure, weight is a bit too high.  Cholesterol results will be in on Monday...stay tuned!

A Few Good Runs

This week, the schedule calls for 4, 7, 4 and 14 miles. But I did my 14 miler last weekend to swap with the 9 miler on last week's schedule.

I also had some "obstacles" on my schedule - I had a late rehearsal with the Israeli Dance group on Tuesday night (we were dancing past midnight, ouch!) for our upcoming performance on Sunday in New York (I'll try to post videos of the performances early next week...). I have my doctors appointment Thursday morning - since I'm doing bloodwork (yes, that cholesterol test I'm still cramming for) I need to fast and can't run that morning. Oh, and I'm leaving for New York on Saturday afternoon for the Israeli Dance festival - which is the main reason I switched the long run schedules in the first place.

I started off the week right with a 4 mile easy run on Monday morning. I hit the treadmill at the gym. I was amazed at how effortless the run seemed - 4 miles in 42:58, 10:45/mile and an average HR of 144. After Saturday's 14 mile run, this one seemed like a walk in the park.

Tuesday morning was my speedwork run. The schedule said 7 miles, but I had a long day ahead of me with the late Israeli Dance rehearsal that night, so I decided to cut the run short. I did a pyramid intervals run on the treadmill at the gym - 1 mile warm-up and then intervals of 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0 and 1.0 miles with 0.25 mile recoveries. The warm-up and recoveries were at 5.4 mph and the intervals at 7.4 mph (just under an 8:00/mile). The last interval I bumped up the pace to 8.0 mph towards the end. 5.5 miles in 50:20; average pace of 9:10/mile with an average HR of 151.

Today I'm just plain tired. It's almost a blessing that my doctor's appointment is tomorrow morning! I'll likely do an easy run on Friday morning of 3 or 4 miles and then the 9 mile long run on Saturday morning.

The Skinny Guy??? - Is That Really Me???

Over the past week or so, I have been referred to as "the skinny guy" or someone has made a comment that I should be eating more (or something to that affect) by a few different people.

That's really nice and all, but REALLY???  Who are YOU looking at????

Although my weight has started to come down a bit - the scale said 166 lbs on Monday morning...this is about where I was before Rosh HaShana last year, but I'm still carrying around the Anniversary, Birthday and Summer Vacation pounds - I still don't see myself as "skinny".  I've got a good amount of meat around my mid-section, and of course that's what I see when I look in the mirror.  Plus, my BMI is 24 - "normal weight" is between 18 and 25.  So, although I am still normal weight, I would put skinny in the BMI < 20

On the other hand, I'm wondering how much my perception of myself is the basis for me not thinking I'm "the skinny guy".  I was a chubby kid growing up and carried around a bit of a spare tire through my teen years and twenties.  Heck, my nickname in my fraternity was FAB.  Unfortunately this was not because I liked the Fab Four so much (or the Fab Five who played Bball at my school a few years later), but it stood for FAT AND BALD.  It's quite ironic that I likely weigh less and have more hair than many of the folks who gave me this nickname...

Anyhow, I'm not sure when I'll be convinced that I'm "the skinny guy".  I'm not there yet.  However, I'll try to take comfort in knowing that others are starting to think I'm that guy...

I'll have a running related post later today or tomorrow.  I've had some good runs so far this week!  :-)

Long Run To The Old 'Hood

On the schedule today was a 14 miler.  I decided to run to the neighborhood that I grew up in - about 7 miles away - and back.  It's a hilly loop at times - the map shows about a 300 ft differential between the lowest point and highest point - but the hills are good for you, right?

I started out in the darkness of 6am...man, I hate having Daylight Savings Time early!  It was also chillier than I had thought.  It ends up that it was 25 degrees when I left the house - I thought it was f-ing Spring already!!!  What's up with that?  Luckily I did wear gloves, but they were not my warmest pair, so for the first 20 minutes of my run I thought my fingers were going to freeze off.

Talking about freezing - since I didn't think it would be that cold this morning, I didn't add Gatorade or Nuun to my water bottles.  Of course those froze at the top, so I could barely suck any water out of them by the time I needed a drink.  I ended up slowing down to a walk a few times to unscrew the top of the bottles and taking drinks of slushy water...it's great to have icy-slush in the summer, but not so refreshing when it's 27 degrees outside.

Since I was going back to the old neighborhood, I decided to pick some music that I grew up with.  I originally was going to throw a bunch of '80s music onto my iPod Shuffle, but I decided to put a bunch of Billy Joel albums instead.  It definitely brought back a lot of fond memories of listening to these songs - or playing them on the piano, oh so many years ago...and it helped keep the pace nice and easy.

My splits show that I kept the pace nice and easy - a 10:57/mile pace overall with an average HR of 155.  It ends up that my HR starts to elevate pretty significantly after 10 miles.  I'm not sure if I just need some more long runs under my belt or if I'm pushing the pace too much in the middle to end of my long runs.  I'll see how it goes in two weeks when I have a 15 mile long run.

Towards the end of the run, my legs were starting to get really sore.  I had contemplated stopping at 14 miles exactly, but somehow pushed myself to keep on going.  I ended up stopping at 14.25 miles - just up the street from my house.  I'm not sure why I couldn't push myself to "bring it home" and finish it up - but come on...I had just finished running 14.25 miles - can I really be that hard on myself?

Final stats:  14.25 miles, 2:35:53 - 10:57/mile, avg HR 155, max HR 172.

I just checked my running log to see when the last time I ran this long and found this little tidbit:  the last time I ran longer than 13.1 miles was on May 4, 2008 - the day of the Frederick Marathon when I ran 26.2 miles.  Leg soreness is definitely excused! 

It's Tourney Time!!!

I had a 5 mile run on the calendar for today and my options were: 1) go in the morning like you normally do -or- 2) go at lunch time to the gym and watch some NCAA Tourney action.

I'm sure you can guess which option won :-)

Anyhow, with the new treadmill room at our gym, there are no TVs on the wall anymore - just on the treadmill screens.  It's nice because I can watch the game even if the person next to me insists on watching HGTV or the Food Network.  However, I find it very uncomfortable to be staring down at a screen while running.  Luckily, I don't do it all the time...

Results of my run:  5 miles, 53:50 - 10:46/mile pace; 146 avg HR.  Nice.  Steady.  Easy.

And I've earned my beer tonight while I watch Michigan play in the tourney.  GO BLUE!!!

Switching the Step Back Week

This week was supposed to be a "step back" week.  My weekend long run on the schedule is a 9 miler, while next week is 14 miler.

However, when I bump the running schedule against everything else that's going on in my life, next week would be a much better "step back" week.  So, I'm going to swap the two long runs.

In order to do that, I really should run a minimum of 14 miles during the week (your long run should not account for more than 50% of your weekly mileage, right?).  So tomorrow's easy 3 is now an easy 5.  No problema.

Yesterday morning I was true to my word and did some speedwork - an interval session on the treadmill.  My body took to it nicely - recovery HRs got back into the 140s before the end of the quarter mile recovery was finished, and my interval HR did not get into the 170s until the last two (and longer) intervals.

I started with a 1 mile warm-up and then intervals of .25, .5, .75, 1.0, 1.0 and .25 miles all separated by a .25 mile recovery.  Intervals were all done at 7.4 mph (and 8:09/mile pace) and recoveries at 5.4 mph (11:09/mile pace).  I slightly bumped up the pace for the last two intervals (OK the last .25 was at 8.0 mph or a 7:30/mile pace).  The final stats were: 6.0 miles in 55:32 - a 9:16/mile average pace;  153 avg HR with a 176 max HR.

The big decision about tomorrow - run in the morning, or sneak out at lunch and run at the gym while watching some NCAA action????  There's a big gap on my work calendar between 1pm and 3pm...hmm.....

Weekend Long Run and Re-evaluating My Training

Yesterday morning I went on my morning 12 miler. I had the alarm set for 5:45am so I could hit the road around 6am and return by 8:30am. That would give me enough time to shower, eat and get to synagogue by 10am..."day of rest", right?

Anyhow, for some reason I woke up at 3:30am...and then I was anxious that I would sleep through my alarm and not get my run in - so I kinda-sorta went in and out of a light sleep for the next two hours. :-(

The run itself was nice and uneventful. I took a new route - the 12 milers that I did last year leading up to the marathon were more rural and this was more suburban. Looking over my splits, it ends up that I got a bit faster after mile 3 and stayed there for the next 9 miles (my heart rate stayed up there as well...oh well, so much for a long, "easy" run).

Final stats: 12.17 miles, 2:11:10, 10:47/mile pace with a 157 avg HR.

Looking over my training for the past few weeks, I see that I really need to add some more speedwork. I have done some pace runs, but no interval training. I think it's time. The half marathon is in five weeks, so I better start working on this NOW!

Another Busy Week

It's been another busy week at work, along with everything else outside of work, so blogging - and reading blogs - got put aside again.

I looked in my Google Reader subscriptions, and I have over 60 blog posts to read. And it's not like I follow 200+ blogs like Marcy does...

Fortunately, running did not get put aside! I have 12 miles in this week (6 on Monday, 3 on Tuesday and a sneaky 3 lunch-time run yesterday). I'm planning on a 12 mile long run tomorrow, which should give me 24 miles for the week. That's the most I've done so far this year. Yes, I need to ramp up the mileage in the next few weeks as I prepare for the half marathon on April 19.

The other thing I need to prepare for - my yearly check up at the doctor. I've set it on the calendar - March 26 - so I have two weeks to shed a few pounds and eat less fatty foods so my cholesterol readings don't shoot through the roof. Am I the only one who crams for their cholesterol test???

Rearranging the Schedule

So - this week was supposed to go 3 miler on Monday, 6 mile Pace Run on Tuesday and 3 miler on Thursday...with a big 12 mile long run on the weekend.

However, tonight starts the Jewish festival of Purim - so I was out late celebrating. And I knew I'd be out late. So I did my 6 miler this morning.

But I was still really tired from the weekend when I woke up this morning. So, the 6 mile pace run became a 6 mile easy run. Stats - 6.22 miles, 1:06:08 (10:38/mile), average HR 153, max HR 172.

I'm not sure if I'll get the 3 miler in tomorrow morning. I'll see how I feel when I get up (I had some scotch tonight at Purim services) and how early it is...

Thank Goodness It's The Weekend!

It's been a crazy week with working late, leading Israeli Dancing - and I did get all of my weekday runs is as well.  3, 6, and 3 milers - all at the gym in Reston before work.  Ugh!

So it was especially nice to run outside this morning!  The weather took a turn for the better - it was 49 degrees this morning for my run...no more tights, running jacket and beanie!  (OK...I know that this weather won't last)

I ran 11.67 miles this morning.  I did the same Fallsgrove loop that I have been doing and instead of turning into my neighborhood at Kentlands Blvd, I went around to Main Street.  My pace was still on the slow side for my heart rate - I averaged an 11:09/mile pace with an average HR of 157 - however, it's been two weeks from my blood donation and it has normally taken me three weeks to get back to "normal".  Hopefully, by next week's run either my pace will be faster or heart rate lower at this pace.

One other thing I did this week was sign up for the Run For The Shelter Half Marathon on April 19.  It's official - I now have a race to train for!

Crazy Day!!!

Today was quite a crazy one. Started by leaving the house at 5:20am to get to Reston early so I could beat the traffic and do my 6 mile pace run at the gym there before heading to the customer site in Sterling.

The run went well. I lucked out and found one of the LifeFitness 95T treadmills with the heart rate function working (I had run on two other of these machines that this gym that did not recognize my HR monitor, so I has just assumed that none of them worked...). I started out the run in a warm-up with an 11:25 mile, and then ran the next 4.5 miles at a 9:50 pace. The last half mile I bumped it up for a strong finish. Stats: 6 miles, 58:52, 158 average HR.

Work has been really nuts for me - and this will continue probably for another week or so. After my project hits the current milestone things will get back to "normal" again...I hope!